Saturday morning March 4

Preparation

Opening response

Lord, open our lipsand our mouth will proclaim your praise.

Hear our voice, Lord, according to your faithful love,according to your judgment give us life.

Prayer of thanksgiving

Blessed are you, God of compassion and mercy,to you be praise and glory forever.In the darkness of our sin,your light breaks forth like the dawnand your healing springs up for deliverance.As we rejoice in the gift of your saving help,sustain us with your bountiful Spiritand open our lips to sing your praise.Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.Blessed be God forever.

The night has passed, and the day lies open before us;let us pray with one heart and mind.

Silence is kept.

As we rejoice in the gift of this new day,so may the light of your presence, O God,set our hearts on fire with love for you;now and forever.Amen.

Hymn

O When Shall We Supremely Blest

Charles Wesley

O when shall we supremely blestEnter the rapturous unrest,Partake the triumph of the sky,And holy, holy, holy, cry?

We render thanks with one accordTo our Almighty God and Lord,Who was, and is, and is to come,Let Jesus all his power assume.

Jesus let his whole church adoreThe elders, and the living four,Worship divine to Christ be givenBy every citizen of heaven!

With all that angel-host, with allThose blessed saints we long to fall,And sing in ecstasies unknown,And praise him on his dazzling throne.

For thou hast bid the creatures be,And still subsist to pleasure thee,From thee they came, to thee they tend,Their gracious source, their glorious end!

Confession of sin

Let us admit to God the sin which always confronts us.

A time of silence and self-examination may be kept.

Almighty God,patient and of great goodness:I confess to you,I confess with my whole heartmy neglect and forgetfulness of your commandments,my wrong doing, thinking, and speaking;the hurts I have done to others,and the good I have left undone.O God, forgive me, for I have sinned against you;and raise me to newness of life;through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the God of love and powerforgive us and free us from our sins,heal and strengthen us by his Spirit,and raise us to new life in Christ our Lord.Amen.

The Word of God

Psalm 71

Refrain:Don’t be far from me, God!

I’ve taken refuge in you, Lord. Don’t let me ever be put to shame!Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness! Bend your ear toward me and save me!Be my rock of refuge where I can always escape.You commanded that my life be saved because you are my rock and my fortress.My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked; rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor because you are my hope, Lord. You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.I’ve depended on you from birth— you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb. My praise is always about you.I’ve become an example to many people because you are my strong refuge.My mouth is filled with your praise, glorifying you all day long.Don’t cast me off in old age. Don’t abandon me when my strength is used up!Yes, my enemies have been talking about me; those who stalk me plot together: “God has abandoned him! Pursue him! Grab him because no one will deliver him!”Don’t be far from me, God! My God, hurry to help me!Let my accusers be put to shame, completely finished off! Let those who seek my downfall be dressed in insults and disgrace!But me? I will hope. Always. I will add to all your praise.My mouth will repeat your righteous acts and your saving deeds all day long. I don’t even know how many of those there are!I will dwell on your mighty acts, my Lord. Lord, I will help others remember nothing but your righteous deeds.You’ve taught me since my youth, God, and I’m still proclaiming your wondrous deeds!So, even in my old age with gray hair, don’t abandon me, God! Not until I tell generations about your mighty arm, tell all who are yet to come about your strength, and about your ultimate righteousness, God, because you’ve done awesome things!Who can compare to you, God?You, who have shown me many troubles and calamities, will revive me once more. From the depths of the earth, you will raise me up one more time.Please increase my honor and comfort me all around.Then I’ll give you thanks with a harp— I will thank you for your faithfulness, my God. I will make music for you with the lyre, holy one of Israel.My lips will rejoice aloud when I make music for you; my whole being, which you saved, will do the same.My tongue, also, will tell of your righteousness all day long, because those who seek my downfall have been put to shame and disgraced.

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:Don’t be far from me, God!

Psalm prayer

Faithful Lord, living Savior,in youth and old age,from the womb to the grave,may we know your protectionand proclaim your great salvationto the glory of God the Father.

Old Testament readingJeremiah 4:1-18

If you return, Israel, return to me, declares the Lord. If you get rid of your disgusting idols from my presence and wander no more, and if you swear by the living God in truth, justice, and righteousness, then the nations will enjoy God’s blessings; they will boast about him.This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem:

Break up your hard rocky soil; don’t plant among the thorns.Dedicate yourselves to the Lord; don’t be thick-skinned, people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem, or else my anger will spread like a wildfire. It will burn, with no one to put it out, because of your evil deeds.Disaster approachesAnnounce in Judah, in Jerusalem proclaim, sound the alarm throughout the land, cry out and say, “Gather together! Let’s flee to the fortified towns!”Set up a flag to Zion; take cover, don’t just stand there!I’m bringing disaster from the north, massive devastation.A lion bursts out of the thicket; a destroyer of nations advances.He’s gone forth from his place to ravage your land, to wipe out your towns, until no one is left.So put on funeral clothing. Weep and wail, for the Lord’s fierce anger hasn’t turned away from us.On that day, declares the Lord, the courage of the king and his princes will fail, the priests will be stunned, and the prophets will be shocked.Then I said, “Lord God, no! You have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem by promising them peaceeven though the sword is at their throats.”At that time, this people and Jerusalem will be told:A blistering wind from the bare heights; it rages in the desert toward my people, not merely to winnow or cleanse. This wind is too devastating for that.Now I, even I, will pronounce my sentence against them.Look! He approaches like the clouds; his chariots advance like a tempest, his horses swifter than eagles. How horrible! We’re doomed!Cleanse your heart of evil, Jerusalem, that you may be saved. How long will you entertain your destructive ideas?A voice declares from Dan; someone proclaims disaster from the highlands of Ephraim.Warn the nations, proclaim it to Jerusalem! Armies are approaching from a far-away country, raising their war cries against the towns of Judah.They hem her in like those guarding a field, because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord.Your own conduct, your own deeds have done this to you.This is your payment and how bitter it is, piercing into the depths of your heart.

Silence may be kept.

New Testament readingJohn 4:43-54

After two days Jesus left for Galilee. (Jesus himself had testified that prophets have no honor in their own country.) When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the festival, for they also had been at the festival.

He returned to Cana in Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”

The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.”

Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.

While he was on his way, his servants were already coming to meet him. They said, “Your son lives!” So he asked them at what time his son had started to get better. And they said, “The fever left him yesterday at about one o’clock in the afternoon.” Then the father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did while going from Judea to Galilee.

Silence may be kept.

Gospel canticleThe Benedictus (The Song of Zechariah)

Refrain:You have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.

Bless the Lord God of Israelbecause he has come to help and has delivered his people.He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.He has brought salvation from our enemiesand from the power of all those who hate us.He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,and remembered his holy covenant,the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.He has granted that we would be rescuedfrom the power of our enemiesso that we could serve him without fear,in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,for as long as we live.You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.You will tell his people how to be savedthrough the forgiveness of their sins.Because of our God’s deep compassion,the dawn from heaven will break upon us,to give light to those who are sitting in darknessand in the shadow of death,to guide us on the path of peace.”

Luke 1:68-79

Glory to the Father and to the Sonand to the Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning is nowand will be forever. Amen.

Refrain:You have raised up a mighty savior for us in your servant David’s house.

Brief silence.

The Apostle’s Creed

Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died, and was buried;he descended to the dead.On the third day he rose again;he ascended into heaven,is seated at the right hand of the Father,and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,the holy catholic church,the communion of saints,the forgiveness of sins,the resurrection of the body,and the life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Intercession and thanksgiving

Prayers may be offered for:

the day and its tasksthe world and its needsthe church and her life

Prayers may include the following concerns:

Those preparing for baptism and confirmationThose serving through leadershipThose looking for forgivenessThose misled by the false gods of this present ageAll who are hungry

Other intercessions and supplications may be offered as the Holy Spirit leads.

Response

Loving God, we look to you.Receive our prayer.

Silence may be kept.

Collect of the day

Almighty and everlasting God,you hate nothing that you have madeand forgive the sins of all those who are penitent:create and make in us new and contrite heartsthat we, worthily lamenting our sinsand acknowledging our wretchedness,may receive from you, the God of all mercy,perfect remission and forgiveness;through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,who is alive and reigns with you,in the unity of the Holy Spirit,one God, now and forever.Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Trusting in the compassion of God, as our Savior taught us, so we pray

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come,your will be done,on earth as in heaven.Give us today our daily bread.Forgive us our sinsas we forgive those who sin against us.Lead us not into temptationbut deliver us from evil.For the kingdom, the power,and the glory are yoursnow and forever.Amen.